


Stay With Me

by Zaira_Angel



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-13
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 12:21:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5205707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaira_Angel/pseuds/Zaira_Angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabbles, ficlets, and prompt fills surrounding The Iron Bull and Dorian Pavus. Mostly written for tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Anniversary

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Their first "anniversary" is today, but only one of them remembers. They may or may not mention it.

They’d been fucking for a year, which is a lifetime by either of their standards. Bull had never bed anyone for a year and he was fairly sure that Dorian had never bed anyone more then once if his bitter obscure references where anything to go by. In that time there had been things he expected. And things he didn’t. He expected Dorian’s bluster was more an act then anything else. That under it all there was a gentle man seeking affection and closeness. And he expected those walls wouldn’t topple easily. What Bull hadn’t expected was the depth of his own feelings. That was new. Bull cared about Dorian. He wouldn’t have taken him to bed if he didn’t. The mage had had enough bed partners who didn’t give a shit about him. He didn’t want to be added to that list. But Bull found himself thinking about the little things Dorian did. The way he’d pull on Bull’s harness to bring him down for a kiss, the way he’d lean into Bull’s touches with a contented sigh, and the slight curl of his lips when he attempted to suppress a smile.

After a year, Bull wanted to do something. Something that would make Dorian smile in that particular way he did. When he rolled his eyes and called Bull a sap even while a grin broke across his face betraying his own words. He thought about doing something like that a lot. He didn’t becasue he was afraid that it might send Dorian running. But things had changed. Dorian no longer sneaked away in the middle of the night, he was openly affectionate with Bull, and what Bull loved most is he laughed when they where together. And not that haughty forced laughter. Real, deep laughter that made his eyes and nose crinkle. It was worth the chance at this point.

Bull got to it. Asked Viv about getting his hands on that ‘Vint wine he loved so much. Called in some old contacts for little things like olives, candied dates and grapes. And because he really wanted to be an ass, flowers. Not just any flowers. Roses. That might even earn him an elbow in the side. And when he surprised Dorian with the setup, he got exactly what he expected. Dorian rolled his eyes, even as they brightened with affection. And at the end of the night when Dorian sauntered over to Bull, settling down in his lap, eyes still bright with affection, Dorian kissed him. Drawn out, slow, and gentle.

“What brought this on?” He asked.

Bull didn’t expect Dorian to remember. And it didn’t matter. This was something he need to do.

“What can I say?” Bull laughed against the mage’s lips. “Can’t help but spoil a pretty thing like you”


	2. First Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Prompt: First Fight

Dorian and Bull bicker and argue near constantly, even at their most affectionate times. It was their language. Dorian would call him a ‘brute’ and Bull would call him a ‘brat’ and it all meant something entirely different. Even earlier in their relationship any hostility was entirely one sided. Dorian’s side. Bull never doubted the other man’s loyalty and Bull never blamed him for his unease.

Even apart from the bickering Bull loved talking. So after the Storm Coast the silence that hangs is heavy. The pouring rain seemed fitting. Even The Chargers have gone quiet, a change from their usual jovial banter. Bull falls behind the rest of them and Dorian thinks he’s never seen the hulking man look quite so small.

“Is there anything I can do?” Dorian asks quietly, slowing his pace to match the Bulls.

“Just say something,” Bull sighs “Anything.”

And he does. He talks quietly to Bull for a few hours. About whatever pops into his head. Politics at first, then eventually descends into complicated magic theory. Eventually, without Bull to spur on the conversation he lapses into silence again.

Bull puts on a decent face for the next few days. Drinking in the tavern, sparing with Krem and the others, and thwarting an assassination attempt by tossing a man off a balcony.(Which Dorian will _never_ admit to finding that kind of hot.) But when he and Bull find themselves alone at night, wondering hands and breathless kisses, Dorian can see- or more accurately- feel the changes. Bull has always been impossibly gentle for the kind of sex they engage in. But this is different. Bull treats the mage as if he where made of glass. The touches are almost _timid._ Dorian tries to spur the warrior on with playful bickering but Bull doesn’t bite. Both metaphorically and literally. At first Dorian lets it's slide, it’s not as if the sex it bad, it’s just different. A bit of tenderness isn’t such a bad thing after all. But he can’t keep his mouth shut for long.

“I’m not exactly fragile, you know?” Dorian says one night after a long string of much to gentle nips along his jaw. He digs his nails into grey skin, hoping Bull will get the idea. He wants nothing more that night then Bull to toss him on the bed, manhandle him, tie him up, and littler his skin with fresh bruises.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Nonsense,” Dorian again tries to spur him on, raking his nails down Bull’s back “You never have, I’m asking, Bull, please.”

But Bull doesn’t move. “I’ll hurt you.”

“What on _is_ going on with you?” Dorian can’t hide the frustration in is voice.

“Without the Qun-”

“Bullshit,” Dorian spits pushing Bull away. “You’ve never hurt me. You never would.”

There’s a long pause as Bull considers his words.

“The Qun is what keeps us in check,” He says finally “Without it we’re savages, bandits and murders. I can’t let that happen.”

“You honestly think that of yourself?” Dorian is beginning to find it difficult to control his emotions. He’s aware he’s almost shouting but can’t bring himself to lower his voice.

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” Bull turns away and Dorian can feel the anger boil up inside him. Partially at Bull’s refusal to simply ask for help, tell him what he needs, but mostly at the society that had convinced this man- this good, loving, gentle man- he was a beast that needed to be controlled lest he slaughter his friends. That there was something wrong with him.

“Then explain!” Now Dorian is shouting. He takes a breath to collect himself and continues. “Talk to me, please.”

“Talking?” Bull laughs, short and humorless over his shoulder. “After Redcliff is that what you did? Talk?”

Dorian can’t speak. This sentence is going nowhere good.

“Or did you get drunk and crawl into bed with me?” It was mean to hurt. To drive Dorian away. But it didn’t. Not truly. He knew Bull too well for that. Bull turns away from him again, the action betraying him. Bull couldn’t look a wounded Dorian in the eye. Couldn’t stomach looking at the pain he caused. 

“You can’t get rid of me that easily, Bull.” Dorian says, emotion cracking his voice only slightly. “I’ve loved men who’ve said worse to me and meant it.”

Dorian hold his ground. Stands even when Bull crumbles onto the bed, heals of his hands pressed into his eyes. His shoulders shake. And… _that’s enough._ The mage is by Bull’s side unable to simply watch the man weep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are mostly to help break writers block, so they aren't very polished up. Sorry 'bout that. Hope you like it anyway =)


	3. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Prompt: Dorian and Bull after a big battle of some kind.

It’s no secret that Bull hates demons. Everyone hates demons. They’re fucking demons. And killing them is a necessary task. Doesn’t mean Bull really likes it all that much. Dragons are fun. Giants are fun. You look at a Giant or a Dragon you know what to expect. Demons fuck the natural order right up the ass and spit in its face. Rage demons spit fire hotter then Dragons, Pride demons swing harder then Giants and Terror Demons are just fucking creepy. And on top of that they all have weird magic crap and a seemingly unending supply of mana. Even Dragons and Giants need to rest, eat, sleep and shit. Not demons, they can just fuck things up forever. And probably will.

And months after joining the Inquisition Bull is still not used to seeing demons spouting from rifts, but it doesn’t shake him like it used to. Because the one thing demons do like everything else is die. And that’s what spurs him on during the battle of this particularly ugly rift. Despair demons shriek loud and pricing, and the ice crackles under the weight of a massive Pride demon. Bull buries his axe deep into it’s knee hearing a satisfying crunch of what, presumably, is bone. The blow brings the demon to it’s knees and fire rushes past Bull to ignite the beast. The Boss had planted herself on higher ground taking her shots at the weak points, well timed and placed. And what Sera lacks in the quality of a shot she makes up in quantity. It’s not that Sera lacked the skill to make shots like the Boss, she lacked the patience. She moved all over the battlefield. It was hard to keep track of her, but her movements kept her from taking most direct damage. Bull took a moment to place his allies. Dorian refreshed the barrier around them and Bull moved onto the next.

As the last demon falls Bull hears the telltale crackle boom of the rift closing. The arid stench of the fade still clinging to the air around them, Bull lets his axe drop next to him. The ice of the frozen over river groans and crackled, an empty threat. He turns to look at Dorian who is scrubbing at the stains the battle has left on his robe. It should be annoying. A man more concerned with the state of his clothes then the demons and death they face. But it’s not. It never was. Bull liked to joke and tease, but he knew what was under all that. Dorian cared deeply about almost everything. It’s easier to worry about stained robes then face the reality that the world might end. At least there was a chance to fix stained robes. Fixing the world on the other hand…

“And what exactly is so amusing?” Dorian huffed arms across his chest, but the slight curl of his lips didn’t go untouched by Bull. Nor did the flush in his cheeks.

Bull didn’t realize he had been smiling but all Dorian’s usual song and dance just make him grin wider.

“Gotta look at something,” Bull hoisted his axe into it’s place across his back “‘s not as if you’re hard on the eyes.”

Dorian huffed again, but let the smile widen a bit as he abandoned the fruitless task of cleaning his robes. He closed the space between them reaching out to touch Bull. But caught himself, worrying his lower lip between his teeth and pulled back a bit, suddenly aware that they weren’t alone.

“Yes, well.” He cleared his throat and continued past Bull. Letting the back of his hand brush against the warrior’s skin.

_We’ll get there, kadan._ Bull said to himself.


End file.
